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I just discarded(or replaced) my old regular 3PT and installed BD 3PT as lower spreaders in my F kite. It looks really nice. The finishing in the BD 3PT are amazing. The surface is extremely smooth and shiny. Just perfect. Now my bridle lines will last a long long time.

I thought about doing this myself, but instead just put a little moonie tape on the LS between and to the center of the standoffs and called it a day. This prevents bridle wear due to the wraps in the spars.

I once suggested to Lam that he should switch to the BDs and he told me why he hasn't, but I can't completely recall his answer. Are the BDs as strong as the skyshark rods? It seems like they must have to sand and smooth them, which may make them thinner.

Lam's kites are not framed like many other kites - he typically seems to use lower pt ratings on the LEs and higher on the spreaders. I think that strong spreaders are important to the design.

It's tough to break a 5pt - I am sure they will be fine. Let us know how you like them.

Are the BDs as strong as the skyshark rods? It seems like they must have to sand and smooth them, which may make them thinner.

comparing 3pt to 3ptBD... the outer diameter is .005mm thinner on the large end and stays the same at the small end. Overall, this saves .5 grams (12.5 vs 12). specs are available at Skyburner's website at right.

The sanding removes very little material it seems and the inner diameter stats remain the same.

To make a spar like this, the carbon is layed up around a mandrel. The spar is then wrapped in a thin tape to compress the fibres together, and then it is cooked to cure the epoxy. Once the tape is removed, it leaves behind those ridges which are composed mostly out of excess epoxy I believe (not totally sure on that though). They don't contribute much structurally to the spar, although they do leave weight.To make the black diamond spars, the standard spars are sanded down to a smooth surface and then clearcoated. So yes they are a bit lighter and they have a bit thinner walls, but structurally they are basically the same. I suppose that it does add another variable into the manufacturing process, but if you are really concerned about matching spars perfectly you will have to go through some intense testing processes anyways since it's well nigh impossible to manufacture all spars identically.

And I'd love to meet the lflier good enough to be able to tell the difference between spars in flight.

I purposely find spars that are not the same weight. That way if I screw up a trick I can then explain to all my friends that the reason is not my totally awesome mind blowing skills, instead it is that extra fraction of a milligram of weight on the left lower spreader that is the culprit.

I am not certain, but I thought that the BD rods are built from a different modulus carbon material than the normal rods? Perhaps the master John T. can clarify this.

Regardless, the BD rods are a huge step up in the sexyness department and will get you more chicks when you fly them.

The above claims of increased chicks have not been verified by the FDA or the AKA nor are they endorsed by the poster or this forum. BD spars are not designed to treat hair loss, poor fashion choices, odors, balding, bad toupee's or over-sized beer bellies. Results may vary depending on the light of day and intelligent level of the chicks being attracted. Use only as directed and at your own risk.

Yes they do! In the past 3 months I've broken two BD Nitro lower spreaders when doing aggressive Flapjacks. Both times they snapped in between the standoffs! Not the fault of the rod, I was flying to some funky music at the time and got carried away

Removing the ridges from the wrapping process should remove all those little stress risers at each junction of thicker to thinner, John C is our engineer maybe he can explain stress risers. Theoretically though the sanded spars should be more durable.

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